Comments on: Imitation as a source of innovationhttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/
Aligning Execution With StrategyMon, 23 Feb 2015 22:48:32 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: Jag Randhawahttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1339
Thu, 09 May 2013 21:31:00 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1339Great post. Innovation has three business components: invention, execution and adoption. Invention or first-move helps lead the market, but it is always the execution and adoption that brings long term success. Great comments too.
]]>By: grobetrotterhttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1338
Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:43:45 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1338Just to reinforce, as someone who is living in an emerging market, Brazil, imitation here is a huge opportunity for success. When a market is behind, it can certainly use solutions that were developed in other places, such as USA, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. Innovation then happens when one has to adapt the American solution to the Brazilian reality, which is a HUGE challenge on its own.
]]>By: David Howell (@davedecahedron)http://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1337
Thu, 14 Mar 2013 17:03:09 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1337Correct!
]]>By: Daniel Mulderhttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1336
Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:03:26 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1336Nice article. It explains effectively the established idea’s on innovators, early adopters etc and makes for nice reading. But for me the really interesting part starts where it stops in this article.

What is the common factor that gives the winners an edge? Money? Don’t think so as many innovators never get paid and many early adopters get very rich but only life to work and so on. I am not referring to theory like “from good to great” etc but rather on how insight on how to develop skills that enable us to turn tacit knowledge into insight and a conscious strategy.

-Build nothing from scratch
-Innovate process at small scales
-Share as much as you can
-Act responsibly in the network

We could debate whether China is truly good at the last two, but certainly these are good guidelines to fuel innovation.

Established countries and companies have a disadvantage in innovation because they suffer from the limitations of their existing practices and infrastructures. IN her words, US companies “were designed to be predictable, not adaptable.” Its more difficult for them to respond to — or even acknowledge — disruptive technologies like cloud, mobile, and social. This is probably why the Millenials are more able to create all of the new and interesting innovations — they don’t have to integrate their past into their work.

]]>By: nishkaushhttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1334
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:22:51 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1334Reblogged this on Saga of my first Startup and commented:
interesting!
]]>By: Anonymoushttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1333
Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:13:35 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1333Well Jobs/Apple did use what they saw at Xerox Parc to create the MacIntosh grahical interface that was such a huge leap forward for personal computing.

And Newton said “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”

There’s a really interesting TED talk by Kirby Ferguson (see link below), where he argues that “Everything is a remix” and perhaps to copy, transform, and combine is a better basis for defining creativity. Using examples from Bob Dylan to Apple, he makes a good argument for how true innovation can stem from previous ideas, and how current patent laws can stifle legitimate innovation moving forward.

Apple has become the cliche example of the innovative company, yet at around the 7:30 mark in the video there’s a 1996 clip of Steve Jobs quoting Picaso, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal. We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” Really interesting to read Jobs’ 2010 comments on “destroying” Android for being a “stolen technology” a couple seconds later in the video.

I guess imitation and innovation are not mutually exclusive. But an organization with an innovation culture? Now that’s special.

]]>By: Anonymoushttp://jonathanbecher.com/2013/03/03/imitation-as-a-source-of-innovation/#comment-1331
Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:53:10 +0000http://alignment.wordpress.com/?p=2386#comment-1331Thank you for the post, I enjoyed it. I think it’s part of human psychology to enjoy leading the pack rather than tailing it (imitation). Hence it’s a bitter pill to swallow that imitators are often more successful. I agree, I’ll stick to innovation.
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